Thanksgiving Troubles
by RelativeTheory
Summary: Lady Aspenwind has come to learn the magical art of making pumpkin pies. Only one problem: Chase may have mixed up the pumpkins.


**Happy Thanksgiving!**

* * *

"So, Lena." Chase sidled up to my best friend and narrowly avoided getting whacked. He ducked and brushed off Melody's scowl. "I was wondering. If a pumpkin can turn into a carriage, would pumpkin enhanced foods be able to do the same? Like...could you turn a pumpkin pie into a spaceship?"

Lena disregarded the idea with a shake of her head. "No. The pumpkin's not unique, it's the properties of the fruit that make it perceptible to magic. Pumpkins are relatively hollow and durable to begin with. A pumpkin pie would no doubt be enhanced in some way, but I'd have to test...Melody, add that to the to-do list, please." Melody, perched in her mannequin's hands, scribbled furiously on what looked like an already crammed piece of paper.

Chase skirted around a table to look over the mannequin's shoulder. The paper must have carried an impressive list, because his eyebrows raised to the top of his head. "How about you move the to-do up to do-now?"

Now I raised an eyebrow. Chase hadn't been this persistent with an experiment since the beginning of summer, when he'd asked Lena to help him hide EAS' backup stash of honey mead.

Lena caught on to the weirdness too. "What happened?"

"Not..." Chase struggled to find the right words for his predicament. "...so much of a something that it can't be undone" was what he finally decided on.

"Chase!" Lena went from engaged scientist mode to panicked readiness mode, but Chase interjected quickly before she could freak out and scold him at the same time.

"I couldn't tell which pumpkins were which and Amya insisted on learning how to cook human delicacies. How am I supposed to know which is which? There were two identical piles! All I know is that after I restacked them Gretel mentioned that some of the pumpkins in the enchanted pile weren't enchanted anymore."

"Gretel would know which pile was which. Why didn't you ask her?" It seemed an easy enough solution.

Chase looked at me and ran a hand through his hair. "I kind of went in before everyone else. A long time before everyone else."

"This is why students aren't allowed in the kitchen!" Lena flung her hands in the air, exasperated. "The least you could have done was own up to your mess."

"I wanted to make sure everything was perfect, okay? And I didn't want her visit to be ruined by having to deal with Gretel yelling at me."

"Did Lady Aspenwind eat the pumpkin?" Lena looked down and grasped for a parchment and a steel pen to write notes on. She couldn't use standard pencils anymore because her hand would grip too hard and break the wood when she got excited.

Chase slumped. "No. The pies are cooking in the oven, and Amya insists on waiting until they're ready."

"how much time until they're done?"

"About twenty-five minutes."

Lena bit her lip. "You have to let them finish cooking in order for me to tell whether any effects from carriage enchantments are possible. I still think you need to tell Gretel what happened."

Chase began hovering off the ground ever so slightly. I looked from Chase to Lena and suddenly thought of something. "Couldn't you replace the pies using the lunchbox of plenty?"

Lena shook her head. "Unless your pies have an 8-inch diameter, I can't do anything for you. Besides, they're not programmed for desserts."

Chase's feet planted back on the ground with a _thump_. "We could just recreate the recipe and heat it extra fast. You have a spell for that, right? Ben wanted to use it for pizza that one time and made the workshop smell like burnt toast."

Lena shook her head. "I'm not going to endorse such a large waste of food."

Chase gestured wildly, exasperated. "Lena! It's not a waste if the food we're throwing away is enchanted!"

"Um, guys?" They both stopped and stared at me. "We eat enchanted food all the time."

I was about to be reminded for the umpteenth time that despite going to EAS for 3+ years, I still didn't know everything, but at least explaining got Chase to calm down. "The lunchboxes make food that's meant for eating, and all the table of never-ending refills does is restock food that was already made. A pumpkin that's supposed to turn into a carriage has a tech-based enchantment."

"Meaning..." I mean, a pumpkin couldn't really turn into a carriage once it was mashed into something else, right?

Lena counted the possibilities with her fingers. "Let's see, the properties of enchanted pumpkin pie could cause indigestion, orange skin color, maybe an explosion...the effects would hopefully wear off by midnight, but the fire used to heat the dish could also be a factor. In fact, it might even enhance it. Fire can be used as the instigator for a multitude of experiments...I've never tried a double-burnt invention before, though." Lena scribbled furiously.

Chase looked annoyed. "Lena. Not helping."

Lena blinked and looked up. "Oh. Sorry."

He locked eyes for a few more moments as Lena tried to figure what else to say, then clutched his head in his hands. "I'm doomed, aren't I," he moaned.

"Not for certain." Lena tried to assure him. "We still have 15 minutes before we find out." Her assurances didn't seem to help.

There had to be something we could do. "Lena, would you be able to tell anything if you viewed the pies?"

Lena put the parchment away and adjusted her glasses. "I might."

"Great! I'll take you guys there." Chase rushed out of the workshop so fast that it made me wonder if he'd had a bad experience with enchanted food as a child. I waited for Lena, then followed Chase while also trying not to draw attention. Just the sight of Lena and I walking together caused stares and whispers from younger students. It's been a while since any big event has happened at EAS, so I hoped that the stares might dwindle with time. I guess I was wrong, but I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I could see Lena fidgeting, too.

Chase was waiting for us somewhat impatiently. He waved us in to the kitchen, coming in last.

I noticed Chase's mom right away. "Rory! I am delighted to see you again!" Lady Aspenwind nodded towards me and Lena. "I see Chase has brought his friends to view our marvelous masterpiece!"

Chase grimaced involuntarily at the last two words. "Amya, how long is it until the pies are supposed to be finished?"

Lady Aspenwind smiled widely. "I suppose just about 10 or so minutes." She nodded towards Lena and me again. "You humans have such less specific timing than Fey recipes do. Why, if the grain for our mead was harvested even a moment after moonlight's first thrush, the whole product would taste dull!"

I had no idea what 'moonlight's first thrush' was, but it seemed rude in this situation to ask. I knew Chase already thought that honey mead tasted disgusting, so maybe it was a colloquial thing.

Lena pushed forward eagerly. "Lady Aspenwind, may we see the pies?"

"Of course!" Lady Aspenwind moved just enough for us to look inside the oven. There were two pies baking, one on each rack. Both of them looked the same to me. Lena scrutinized them for a bit longer than I did, but finally turned away, disappointed.

This was obviously not the response Lady Aspenwind had hoped for. "Did something go awry?"

Chase seemed like he was trying to figure out how to respond when Gretel entered.

Chase looked at Lady Aspenwind and grinned sheepishly. I frowned. I mean, I'm not in the best position to judge, but at least I've learned to come clean with my parents and explain these kinds of things.

"Nothing." Lena shook her head and started walking back where I and Chase were, then stopped partway, distracted. I followed her line of focus to two mounds of pumpkins on a counter across the room. "Gretel," Lena asked cautiously, "why would you put enchanted pumpkins in a kitchen?"

Gretel's eyes narrowed. "How did you know some of them were enchanted?"

Lena glanced at Chase. Gretel noticed. Her eyes narrowed further. "Did you mess with my pumpkin stacks?"

Chase looked like he was about to give an excuse. Then he looked over at Lady Aspenwind, who was watching all this with confusion. His shoulders slumped. "I...knocked into some of them earlier. I think one of them might have gotten into the pie mix."

"Gretel," Lena began cautiously again, "If those pumpkins are meant for carriages, why are they by the pumpkins meant for cooking?"

Now that she'd said it, it did seem pretty strange. Gretel looked like she'd been caught off guard, then turned slowly from Lena to Chase to me. "You thought that the pumpkins were meant for carriages?"

"I heard you say they were enchanted," Chase started, then stopped when a wry smile grew on Gretel's face. The smile grew into full-fledged chortling.

"You thought...ha, no, those are far away from this place. I enchanted these pumpkins with a spell that would make them harder to crack."

"What?" Chase had such an expression of surprise on his face that Lena and I suppressed our own laughter. If either one of us laughed now, he'd be devastated.

Gretel could get away with it, though. "The harder the outside, the fresher the inside, right?" She finished laughing and drew herself up. "I just hadn't finished enchanting them all. Come on, let's see if you can taste the difference." She walked back to the oven. "Lady Aspenwind, I believe they are ready to take out of the oven."

Whatever uncertainty Lady Aspenwind felt from this event now gave forth to delight.

"Truly?"

Gretel nodded and took the blacksmith's mitts from a peg by the oven. "Careful, now," she warned, taking out the first of the two. "They'll need to cool a little and settle." Lady Aspenwind watched, enraptured, as Gretel took out the other pie. Gretel couldn't help but grin, and neither could I - Lady Aspenwind's excitement was infectious. "I must say, the design on the crust came out nicely."

Lady Aspenwind admired her handiwork. "It did, didn't it. I have plans to implement this recipe to the royal court if it tastes as good as you say."

Gretel pursed her lips at the comment but let the unintended insult slide.

I turned back to Chase, who was still reeling. "Enchanted pumpkins..."

I shook my head. "You were crazed like whoa back there."

Lena returned to where we were standing. "Shame," she said. "I won't be able to find whether there were side-affects to tech-enchanted food after all." Chase stared at her. She laughed. "I'm kidding. Although I do wonder..."

"Let's just enjoy the food," Chase decided, and walked closer to Gretel. "How long do they need to set?"

She studied the first pie's surface. "This one might be fine in a moment - if I cut it carefully." Gretel obtained a knife and a spatula, while Lady Aspenwind went to grab the stack of empty plates and forks she'd set out while waiting. After inspecting the pie a bit further, Gretel gave Lady Aspenwind a slice.

At first, she took the smallest of bites I'd ever seen. She must have decided it surpassed whatever she'd envisioned, because after that bite the pie slice was gone.

Once she was done, she inquired, "And you make this Pumpkin Pie every Thanksgiving?"

"It's a tradition," Gretel affirmed, cutting a slice out to Chase, then after a hesitation, to me and Lena.

"Is there any other tradition regarding this pie?"

Gretel sighed. "Usually, you share it with your family."

Lady Aspenwind gasped suddenly. "I thank you, Gretel, for sharing this lovely dish with me! I am honored to be considered part of the Ever After School's family."

Gretel paused. "I...you're most welcome, Lady Aspenwind."

"As a continuation of the close ties made here today between the Fey Court and the North American Chapter," Lady Aspenwind continued, "I hereby request that this division of Ever After School sends the Fey Court a dozen of these Pumpkin Pies, annually."

Lena whispered furiously into my ear. "Usually, the Fey request that they do tasks themselves. Especially with food. Her asking us to do this for them is a huge honor in their eyes."

Gretel seemed surprised as well, and contemplated for a moment. "Perhaps, then, you should also request that every year, representatives of the Fey court will come and help us...complete this important task, especially with the design on the crust."

Lady Aspenwood beamed. "I shall talk to the King upon my return." She seemed to notice now that the rest of us had only just received our pieces. "But first," she added hastily, "I will enjoy your company. Please, Gretel, may I have another small piece to accompany you and these children?" Gretel obliged, and Lena and I finally picked up our forks.

My eyes widened at the burst of warm, delicious flavor. Lena seemed to agree wholeheartedly, and it was easy to see that Gretel enjoyed herself immensely. Lady Aspenwind devoured her second slice more slowly, but I could sense that she enjoyed it no less.

I noticed Chase was holding back. He was still embarrassed, I guess.

Chase caught me staring and half-heartedly pushed some pie around his plate. I grinned as I thought of something. "If you don't try some, I'm going to mush it in your hair and then leave you to explain _that_ tradition to your mother."

He finally grinned in return, and this time his grin was real. "You wouldn't dare." But he took a bite just in case.

Chase's eyes grew wide, then he closed them. "This is the most amazing non-carriage pumpkin pie I have ever had."

As pumpkin pies went, I'd have to agree. I'd had one or two before, but not like this. My mind went back to something Gretel said.

She was surprised when I asked for the recipe, and a bit more surprised when Lena followed suit. After a few moments, though, she sighed a laugh and let us see. Lena let me take her note paper to copy the recipe on, insisting that she could get more back at her workshop.

"Photographic memory, remember?" She smiled. A little bit of pumpkin was stuck in her teeth. I thanked her and Gretel profusely, then made sure I got all the measurements correct.

Gretel laid the recipe page on the counter and walked away. I'd almost finished copying the recipe when she returned with a pumpkin in each arm. "Here, Rory. If you plan on making one, you'd better have the right ingredients. You too, Lena. Your memory won't be able to conjure up a pumpkin like this." She handed me a pumpkin and winked. "I made sure it's the right kind of enchanted."

A smile warmed on my face. "Thanks, Gretel."

I stayed a bit longer to watch Gretel and Lady Aspenwind place the second pie on the table of never-ending refills, then enlisted Chase's help in carrying Lena and my pumpkins back to our doors.

 _'_ _Usually, you share it with your family.'_

I couldn't wait to go home and share it with mine.


End file.
